Having delegated its legislative and war
making powers to the wide discretion of federal judges and the
president, Congress has kept Americans uninformed about the
objectives and hard choices necessary for meeting the terrorist
threat. The president's decision to invade Iraq, unsupported by
evidence of a mortal threat and without a substantive debate in
Congress, offers no tangible payoffs of peace, economic
development, and the defeat of terrorism.

In the mid 20th century, WWII was a defining war in the
history of mankind. The combined forces of capitalism and
communism united to defeat Japan and the Axis powers only to find
themselves becoming opponents after that war ended. But, by the
end of the 20th century, capitalism had prevailed over communism
and the globalization of capitalism began in earnest. During this
period, a number of small wars were fought with opponents
supplying the funds and arms to their proxy allies who did the
actual fighting. It was only in Korea and Vietnam where American
troops fought in wars, as they did later against new opponents in
Afghanistan and twice in Iraq. With the defeat of communism, the
global environment became more conducive to capitalist commerce
and exploitation of the world's resources. Huge capitalist
corporations scoured the world for cheap labor, materials and
resources and, in a worldwide division of labor, production tasks
were parsed from developed to developing countries. The United
States stood alone among its competitors, namely, the European
Union (EU), Japan and the Southwest Asian countries. It was
inevitable, therefore, that America's worldwide economic
interests be accompanied by its military might.

America's penetration of the world's markets enabled its
citizens to become the world's mass consumers and tourists. The
world's resources were channeled to America and, at home and
abroad, Americans were rich and free to enjoy their unprecedented
material cornucopia and comforts. They flocked abroad bringing
their culture, trade and technology, and their dollars bought
materials, products and services, and they established industries
and incomes for their worldwide trade partners. However, a new
reality has developed between America's expanding commercial
empire and the peaceful desires of Americans to enjoy their new
wealth. Americans now find that empire has both internal and
external consequences.